AMC Tribute Thread

[Pine Charles]

LOL

Edited December 2, 2014 by Pine Charles

[amybrickwallace]

I never knew that Darnell gave Debbi away at her wedding. How sweet!!

[Pine Charles]

Carol talkin' AMC @ 1:15:

http://youtu.be/6y5M21nS9H8?t=1m15s

[allmc2008]

It' would've been great if Eunice and Erica clashed!

[amybrickwallace]

Too bad Susan never appeared on Mama's Family. Then again, if those rumors of problems between her and Dorothy Lyman were true, then I guess it's not hard to see why she wouldn't have.

[Pine Charles]

Whaaa???

[dragonflies]

Yeah when her Darnell, Susan and others were on Oprah when the show was ending in 2011 she talked about it

[ellabelle]

According to Susan's unauthorized bio that was published in the late 80s: They were in direct competition for the Best Actress Emmy in 1983. Both were quoted very graciously saying that the other deserved to win, and Lyman didn't even attend the ceremony that year because she was flying out to LA to be on Mama's Family. Susan was apparently a favorite to win, but Dorothy Lyman won instead. The ceremony was not televised that year, and she apparently got very emotional and left and then refused to talk to the press. Ruth Warrick spoke up on her behalf and basically said that everyone was just shocked, and they didn't understand why Susan didn't win, and that Dorothy Lyman's role was not a serious role, it was really just an outrageous caricature - which possibly could have offended Lyman. Susan reportedly later called Dorothy and congratulated her and was very gracious, but the whole thing got blown up in the soap press and the tabloids as a huge rivalry.

David Kroll, who played a minor character on the show is quoted in that book as saying that SL set the tone on the show behind the scenes, and because she was undemanding, everyone else was too, but that when Lyman went into negotiations after winning the Emmy, she had a lot of demands, and the response from TPTB was that SL was the star, and she didn't ask for any of this stuff, so forget it. Apparently Lyman felt winning the Emmy entitled her to more perks and/or $ than anyone else had, and ABC refused so Lyman ended up leaving the show.

To be honest though, I can't see SL on Mama's Family. I don't think she'd play "hick" very well.

[SFK]

I've wondered if Susan's very gracious and "on" on-air personality is in part overcompensation for these unsavory bits of Erica-like behavior that leak to the masses. Like her dropping f-bombs on Bloopers and Practical Jokes, or pounding the table when Robin Strasser won the Emmy. Maybe not so much these specific incidents, but just to make the divide between character and actress as clear as possible.

[amybrickwallace]

I read about the Lucci/Lyman "feud" in the 1987 book Soap Opera Babylon. I don't know how much of it is true, but it did say that Susan burst into tears when Dorothy was announced as Best Actress.

[ellabelle]

Yeah, that's more or less what the unauthorized bio of her said too. I think she put on as much of a gracious front about losing the Emmy as she could manage, but damn it, she REALLY wanted to win. I don't know that I really blame her for that either. I would want to win too, and I assume it would be really demoralizing to think that you're recognized as the face of daytime television, and you're doing your best work, and year after year, it's just not good enough.

[ellabelle]

From looking at multiple sources over the years, my assumption (I've never met the woman) is that she definitely has Erica-like aspects of her personality, but she's very conscious about appearances and does her best to rein it in and put forth a good front for the public. I work in PR, and I just have a hard time believing that she's a horrible, awful person IRL and the 'nice' front is totally an act - I think we'd have heard SOMETHING about that by now if it were true, especially now that AMC is gone. I don't think anyone is capable of consistently hiding bitchy behavior for more than 40 years. I don't doubt she didn't get along with various people or that there were times when she got angry or frustrated on set, but even going back into the early 70s, stories talked about how low-drama she was behind the scenes. I assume that's why the few stories we DO have (like the yogurt-throwing) get told over and over again - because they were isolated events.

The whole f-bomb thing on Bloopers & Practical Jokes... my colleagues generally consider me a very nice person, but if I get really upset, I'm apt to drop a few f-bombs of my own. That said, if anyone has a clip of that, I'd LOVE to see it!

[amybrickwallace]

To me, it shows that Susan Lucci is much like the rest of us in personality traits. Would YOU want the press/fans constantly reminding you of the fact that you haven't won that elusive statue? I think her famous losing streak was already garnering attention by 1983 and had to be an absolute nightmare by the time it finally ended in 1999.

[Pine Charles]

Thank you, ellabelle!

I don't think I've ever heard about all that before.

Well, I remember hearing about Susan Lucci pounding the table upon not winning, but I didn't know the whole Dorothy Lyman angle.

Edited December 4, 2014 by Pine Charles

[amybrickwallace]

I wonder if the demands Dorothy Lyman allegedly made explains why she wasn't even asked to reprise Opal when the character was brought back in 1989 - despite winning two Emmys (the first in the supporting category, the second in the lead category).